Farmers from Buuri Constituency in Meru have now petitioned President Uhuru Kenyatta to halt Agriculture CS Peter Munya’s several meetings in the region.
Speaking a few hours after Munya’s most recent meeting in Kibirichia Ward, the aggrieved farmers have accused the CS of engaging in politics and offering no tangible solutions to the problems affecting them.
“We had great expectations that they would address issues of potato packaging and fertilizer prices. But CS Munya and EALA MP Mpuru Aburi landed in choppers and converted the meeting to an ODM political rally,” says Mike Kaimenyi.
“We are very disappointed as farmers. President Uhuru Kenyatta should put an end to the meetings or direct CS Munya to desist from bringing cheap politics to a meeting that was supposed to offer solutions to our problems,” says Mary Kainyu.
The farmers also took a swipe at EALA MP Mpuru Aburi for what they termed an insult to local leaders.
“Hon. Mpuru should learn some little decorum. His utterances bordering on vulgarity and insults to our leaders are totally uncalled for. We wonder why he must address farmers’ meetings,” says Mama Kanana.
The meeting was organized for the launch of a project with an aim of revitalizing Irish potato production and Market access for COVID-19 affected smallholder farmers. The project is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in partnership with the Government of Kenya.
Munya recently announced that he will not be contesting for the Meru gubernatorial seat in August this year, saying this was after consultations with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
According to the Agriculture CS, President Uhuru Kenyatta asked him to shelve his gubernatorial ambitions and stay at the helm of the Agriculture ministry to finish programmes that would benefit farmers.
However, his several meetings in Meru and neighboring counties have been characterized by lashing at political leaders allied to Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and little of solutions to problems affecting farmers.
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